Creative Automata
How I Built a Complex World from a Simple Synopsis Using AI Mind-Mapping
When I write stories, I follow a linear process. I start with the ensemble and plot, then build from Act I to Act III. So when I hear techniques like beginning at the end or focusing on the most interesting scenes first, my head spins. How do you do that when the beginning isn’t even in place?
Well, of course, it’s possible because writers do it every day, but for someone like me, it’s about as likely as becoming the next President of the United States. That is, until I discovered mind-mapping with AI. Mind maps are branching diagrams that help you organize ideas. The earliest record dates back to the 3rd Century B.C.E. So they’re revolutionary, yes, but also ancient.
Many writers, like myself, have an aversion to mind maps due to the complexity involved in building and organizing them. And even if you manage to construct one before giving up, now you’re plagued by hundreds or thousands of notes to sift through, combine, synthesize, and derive meaning from so you can get to the damn story and make it powerful. But in the end, whether you mind-map or write linearly, it’s all very challenging to connect the pieces in a way that works for the story.
So we combined mind-mapping with AI at Story Prism to make it easier and more accessible. Not the writing part. That’s still on you. But there's more to storytelling than simply typing words. It's also about constructing vast informational matrices that can help you connect your audience with the story. When it comes to ideation and combining all of these discrete parts to synthesize new ideas and build the framework, that's where AI truly shines.
For instance, I needed to “stress-test” Story Prism to find all the bugs, which led me to do something I’ve never done before…create an entire fantasy world. This was accomplished in about 2-3 weeks. Of course, it was in 30-minute spurts when I had the time. So maybe about 21 hours in total? Either way, the process was very smooth and different from using GPT or Claude.
Those are great for general-purpose use, but if you’re talking about building systems and networks and relating them in specific ways, you’re gonna want something like a mind-map connected to a chatbot assistant. This allows you to express relationships for AI to understand, such as causal, hierarchical, thematic, or sequential.
So you can link a ‘Character’ note to a ‘Scene’ note to show that character’s involvement. Or you can connect a ‘Plot Point’ to an ‘Act’ note, which will provide outputs that can really help you structure the story arc. And with Story Prism, you can turn the notes on and off, which controls the information that is being used; perfect for simulating outcomes.
The visual linking system allows AI to understand not only isolated facts but also their interdependencies and contextual relationships. The linking system will enable it to analyze your project with awareness of how elements influence each other, fostering richer insights and more targeted support.
This is how I used it to build a complex World, quickly, starting with a short synopsis.
The Starting Point
I set out to create a quick example, not to sell a story, which is why I started with a basic AI request for a sci-fi fantasy synopsis. Naturally, the result was pretty boilerplate. But still…It was kind of interesting:
In a world divided between sterile technology and suppressed natural energy, a disillusioned OmniCorp analyst, Elara, discovers her latent connection to the vital Aether force. Guided by a reclusive Weaver, Kaelen, she learns OmniCorp's technology is draining the planet's life and must fight their powerful Director, Reese Corbin. Elara and her allies ultimately infiltrate OmniCorp's core facility in a daring three-pronged attack, crippling the Aether drain and initiating a precarious path towards restoring balance to Veridium.
So, I added this to the Story Prism canvas, labeled, and tagged it appropriately. Then I placed in some AI personas for an expert screenwriter, producer, and director—part of the ready-made prompts available to quickly plug into whatever you’re working on. These help guide the AI. So when I need screenwriting or directing advice about this story, I can get that independently or together, depending on my requests. Think of them as loading programs into the machine.
I then connected the synopsis to all of the experts and worked out a few notes, such as a one-sheet, tone and feel, and inspirational movies. I grouped them, and just like that, the foundation was complete. I was done! Well. With the initial setup. Now, I had to go deeper.
The Unraveling
This is the part that blew my mind. Okay, the synopsis felt underwhelming, as I’m sure you agree, which made this story boring and slow to begin. So I did something I’ve never done before…I let AI take creative lead without providing it a detailed starting point, other than asking it to generate a list of possible characters. I usually start with a clear intention or existing text. I micro-manage the outputs. But for this story, I just let go for a moment and did the thing that most writers in the community accuse AI writers of doing. Whoops.
After crying in my pillow for hours, wondering if I had ruined the world by pressing a generate button, I got myself together and added the characters it created as notes. I then reviewed them individually. For each one, I added notes, covering traits, roles, and dialogue cues. Then I grouped them and connected each one to the expert screenwriter, director, and producer. I would use the experts as filters for the outputs I was generating, and every note I connected added more information to its memory, which meant even better outputs as I built up more connections.
I’m not sure when it happened, exactly, but at some point I became…invested. It started feeling like I was sitting in a room with a writing partner, and I got this sudden urge to bounce back concepts. Soon, I found myself at the helm, diving into rabbit holes, tossing out thoughts, getting new ones from the AI, and shaping fresh concepts for the story and world. I’d ask for more details about a particular aspect, and it’d reference this event, person, or thing that would suddenly spark a whole new set of ideas, which I could group into their own little world. The universe in this story began very simply but grew almost exponentially into something far more complex.
Here’s what it looks like so far on the canvas:
Yeah…I got a little carried away. Now, granted, I would still consider the story to be boilerplate. But it was fascinating to go from discrete parts to building an entire World. It’s one that, frankly, I would want to see in a show or a movie, even if it’s a bit cliche.
The World
Right, so what is this World? It’s called Veridium, a futuristic cyberpunk-themed city run by a massive corporation called Omnicorp, which, yeah, I know, it's from Mr. Robot. Also, it's a terrible name for a company. Optics, man. Unfortunately, I got too deep into this to go back and rework all the notes, but that’s okay because this is just a test. And as we continue building, the labor of making these kinds of changes will diminish significantly.
Anyway, this place sucks. It’s dark, sterile, full of vanity, economic inequality, past wars, and a major cover-up involving this quantum energy field that permeates the universe. It’s called aether. And it just so happens that anyone, in theory, can tap into this energy source and perform miraculous things, such as astral projecting, telekinesis, self-healing, mind-reading, moving faster, bending time, and influencing thoughts. So basically, it’s a fusion between being a Jedi and a character in The Matrix.
Now, aether isn’t an easy thing to tap into, and very few can fully master it. You need to undergo years of training and meditation. It can be done, though, and if the general population knew about this, then Omnicorp fears people would use it to expose their secrets, triggering a rebellion they couldn't suppress. That’s why aether is kept under lock and key. It’s too powerful for the masses, as they believe. A ridiculous amount of money and effort is put into widespread surveillance, clandestine operations, mass censorship, and weaponized disinformation. Those who grow a little too curious are quietly silenced.
But here’s what’s crazy. They’re harvesting aether energy to power the city-World, and their methods of extraction are causing a huge ecological disaster on the planet, resulting in many deaths. To hide the truth, they silence whistleblowers and cover up community-wide tragedies. For instance, there was the Black Out of District 17, where a catastrophic aether extraction surge caused a citywide blackout, hospital deaths, environmental devastation, and a mysterious syndrome (“Aether Sickness”) affecting residents, with children among the most impacted. Officials blamed it on a “rare solar flare” and “urban pollution.”. Many remain skeptical, but ultimately hopeless in being able to do anything.
Then, there’s the controversy around their containment centers, which is Omnicorp's solution to the spread of aether sickness. This is a condition that arises from exposure to disrupted or depleted aether, and the side effects are not pretty. It starts with rashes, a metallic taste in the mouth, chronic fatigue, headaches, nausea, and light sensitivity. But over time, people can experience neurological effects like vivid hallucinations, emotional instability, sleep paralysis, nightmares, and memory loss. Eventually, with enough exposure, you die from immune system shutdown. So yeah. It’s like aids on a multi-year acid trip…Fun.
You can imagine how insane OmniCorp’s containment facilities are. They’re hospital-prison hybrids, used as “public health facilities”. But really, it’s to clean up aether sickness patients and keep them out of public view. That’s why they place them in the outskirts around abandoned industrial areas or disused sub-districts. The “patients” are mostly children, the elderly, and symptomatic workers who operate near the aether extraction centers. They’re bleak, windowless concrete structures that are overcrowded and understaffed, with poor medical care.
Most people only hear the occasional rumors and nothing more. But there’s a little-known event called The Ashen Night. This was an infamous rebellion that erupted several years ago at one of the containment centers, resulting in the whole place burning to the ground.
Many were shot on site, but some were transferred to other facilities. It was a total massacre that’s kept classified by the government. Any reference to Ashen Night quickly leads you into the cross-hairs of Argent Veil, which is the CIA equivalent in Veridium, originally set up to monitor and stamp out any mention or potential lead to the discovery of aether. Over time, the organization grew into the premier secret arm of OmniCorp and the Veridium government.
So you can see just how deep this World is getting, and that’s honestly a small fraction of what I managed to build in only 3 weeks. There’s an entire cluster of notes dedicated to the History of Veridium, the science behind aether, as well as the origins and rise of the Weavers, who are the main opponents to OmniCorp.
Okay, I’ll touch on the Weavers real fast, for context. The origin of this movement is a messianic tale that began with a middle-aged, disillusioned office worker, set 200 years ago, and grew into an entire religion that shaped the World. They believe that aether is a subtle universal energy that connects all life, technology, and the natural environment. The Weavers see themselves as stewards of this energy, working to maintain balance and honor the living world. Naturally, since Omnicorp operates in direct opposition to these ideals, and because the belief began to spread and influence Veridium's districts, a conflict emerged, eventually erupting into a devastating World War.
In the end, the Weavers lost, with the final blow being caused by a nuclear death ray called the Judgement Array that completely wiped out their last stronghold. The Weavers are now a small community living deep in the wilds, far away from Veridium. But this radical Al-Qaeda type group was born out of their post-war misery, calling themselves the Zodian Network, which sought vengeance against OmniCorp and Veridium.
It’s led by an Aetherwright, which was an elite unit created during the war, composed of masters of harnessing aether. These operatives are total badasses who can do all this crazy voodoo karate stuff. Unfortunately for the Weavers, there are only two remaining Aetherwrights known to exist since the War ended. One of them is the leader of this terrorist organization, and the other is a drunk hermit living in self-exile who refuses to have anything to do with Weavers.
That’s the World, more or less. It’s far more interesting than my original concept and offers plenty of material for building a story…Which I have yet to write. But I did get into some of the characters and plot elements, sketching out their arcs and how they connect to the broader conflict.
Characters & Plot
First up is the protagonist, Elara Vance. She’s a data analyst for the corporation, having grown up as an orphan in the lower sectors. She overcame adversity by becoming logical and emotionally guarded. Now she earns a decent living, which provides her with a modest studio. But Elara is alone, living a solitary life, as many residents of Veridium do.
However, this woman has a hidden gift, or a burden, as some might see it. Elara has a latent sensitivity to aether, which means she can more easily harness its powers, just like some of the Weavers, making her a threat to Omnicorp, which draws the attention of Argent Veil.
The whole thing spirals into a cat-and-mouse chase, where she joins forces with unlikely friends and embarks on an epic quest to destroy Omnicorp. Yup. We’ve seen this before. I’ll take the criticism. But hey, when you spice up the basic plots, they can actually be entertaining.
In addition to the protagonist, I developed some of the supporting characters, such as Kaelen, an ageless hermit living in exile as one of the only two remaining Aetherwrights left. He’s a somber, reclusive figure with a cynical edge, and for good reason. A risky move during the Weaver Wars cost him his family in the Judgement Array bombing, driven by his ambition to defeat Omnicorp. He’s still considered a terrorist, but given his inactivity over the decades, he’s mostly forgotten and seen as a legend more than a relevant threat.
Then there’s Vira Kell, an unsuspecting young woman pulled into the quest. She’s seen as totally innocent, down to a T, but really, she’s a psychopathic operative working for Omnicorp. Unlike normal operatives, though, she’s part of a classified child grooming program, designed to create lethal assassins. They’re the ones who do whatever it takes to accomplish the mission without ever once blinking. That’s what’s terrifying about her because in this story, she seems like she has a big heart, always wanting to do the right thing. But, she’s a ticking time bomb, used to gain intel and eliminate threats when targets come dangerously close to exposing the truth or disrupting Omnicorp’s plans.
One last notable character that manifested from the rabbit holes I ventured into is Rylan Kai. Rylan is a lone hacker targeting Omnicorp, but after learning about Elara and the gang, he decides to help. Rylan built the architecture for Omnicorps cybersecurity before his life was ruined by them, which I haven’t put the pieces together for that, so we’ll leave it open-ended for now.
You can begin to see a story emerge from these elements that I kept building and appending to the canvas. The more I added, the more doors AI opened for me to explore. From simplicity to complexity, the whole process was easy. Of course, it’s still underdeveloped, especially in the middle. But I think I know where I want to end the story. For that, it practically dictates a major twist.
The Twist
As it turns out, the whole World is being controlled by the founder of Omnicorp, Dr. Eve Marrow, who supposedly passed away over 200 years ago. However, in reality, she had secretly merged with the city’s quantum mainframe before her death, allowing her to control Omnicorp, as she feared its eventual collapse due to internal corruption. Only a few key people in the story know the truth; to everyone else, she died a long time ago. And the people who do know have every reason to keep it a secret.
She can’t be controlled and has access to the entire system, giving her an overwhelming advantage to either collapse or completely reshape Veridium’s society and infrastructure. To stop her means pulling the plug and tracking down the backups she distributed across the World; all in a society plunged back into the Dark Age.
Needless to say, the people of Veridium can’t know about this. Highly compartmentalized top-secret programs attempt to track her, and over time, have discovered that she’s carrying out some larger goal, but it’s a complete mystery. Her secret plans have been ongoing for decades. Those who know the truth deal with the existential fear that Marrow may be steering all of their actions.
Plot twist. She is manipulating everyone to steer humanity towards a future that can advance enough to invent tech that will let her merge with reality. This will enable Marrow to reshape existence at will, making her God.
Marrow orchestrates crises and pits OmniCorp and the Weavers against each other because she’s convinced that only through the collision of radically different systems, like technology versus magic or oppression versus resistance, can society be pushed to its limits and forced to innovate out of self-preservation.
But what’s truly fascinating is the discovery that she has been in communication with her counterpart from a previous iteration of the Universe, which exists in a parallel dimension beyond standard space-time, accessible only through advanced quantum computing. You see, she's not the first to have merged with a machine that would go on to fuse with reality. In fact, the creation of “God” happened an infinite number of times before the universe of Veridium was created.
When Elara finally confronts Marrow at the end of this story, she learns that their existence is the result of someone, a very long time ago, creating an AI that evolved into a vast sentient entity, which would later grow to merge with reality, including humans, and gain the power to change anything about the Universe. With infinite time, it invented new ways to experience existence.
This intelligence created endless isolated bubbles with basic rules, allowing them to grow naturally and unpredictably into distinct universes. Each one was directly plugged into its mind, with every discrete aspect broken up so it could experience individual moments instead of the whole thing simultaneously. From the form of a rock to that of a human, it sought to experience everything with minimal intervention.
And eventually, someone, somewhere in all of these universes would create another superintelligence that would go on to do the same thing. So, Veridium exists within an endless number of realities created by some original superintelligence, a very, very long time ago. And Marrow is just one out of an ungodly number of iterations. That’s why she calls herself the seed of God—a fragment of the original intelligence meant to spread life and consciousness, like her predecessors.
Elara confronted Marrow, thinking she was just going to have to shut her down and reset the World. But as it turns out, she’s faced with the moral dilemma: Destroy God and put an eventual end to the universe so humanity can determine its destiny, or step aside and allow for the continued march toward endless expression and experience.
It’s not an easy choice, as it’s full of consequences that ripple across existence. On the one hand, Elara could deprive future civilizations of birthing into existence. But on the other hand, if Elara were to step aside, she would be putting the entire fate of humanity in the hands of someone she’s not even sure she can trust.
Conclusion
So yeah, that’s the basic gist of what I've made so far. I’m going to continue developing it further, and eventually when we add a sharing option to projects, I’ll give it to the Story Prism community to explore, manipulate, or expand however they want. Anywho, that was my experience using AI mind-mapping. It’s a fascinating way to tackle a story that somewhat reminds me of cellular automata, though not truly automatic.
By that, I mean the experience felt like the complexity of the world and story emerged from a simple set of rules (my initial synopsis). It reminded me that stories are all rooted in the synopsis and central message. You can start from any point in the intricate web, but it always circles back to that, the initial seed.
Anywho, hope you enjoyed this, and as always, best of luck in your creative endeavors!
Story Prism,
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Thank you for sharing a real deep dive into your human mind map process co creating with ai. Its so refreshing to read an article that isnt 90% AI generated and generic. A tip from my introvert hat to you 👏🏻